Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, received a response to his request to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine concerning the incident with the camera crew of Channel 5 and the employees of the State-Owned Guard and Protection Service of Ukraine.
Reportedly, on November 27, 2010, employees of the State-Owned Guard and Protection Service of Ukraine applied force not to let Azad Safarov, journalist of Channel 5, and Olena Sorokina, director of photography, enter the tent in Maidan Nezalezhnosti square, where the Prime Minister had a conversation with businessmen. The security of the Prime Minister ignored a request of A. Safarov to introduce himself and show his identity card. When the Prime Minister went out of the tent, the journalists and the director of photography were violently pushed back, which damaged the lens of the camera.
Thus, Mykola Tomenko appealed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine with a request to consider this case and institute criminal proceedings for the interference with the activity of the journalists, pursuant to part one of clause 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The response of the General Prosecution reads, "Military servants of the State-Owned Guard and Protection Service of Ukraine acted in conformity to the Law of Ukraine "On the Guard and Protection of the Public Authorities of Ukraine and Public Officials" and their official duties." Having verified the situation, the Main Department of the Military Prosecutor's Office suspended institution of criminal proceedings due to absence of corpus delicti.